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Game Genres: Likes and Dislikes

I like playing video games. I, however, do not like playing ALL kinds of video games. As with everyone else, I may TRY all kinds of games but I have the genres I prefer and the genres I don't.

My most favourite genre in video gaming is the JRPG genre or Japanese Role-Playing Game. More specific to that, I mean games that have an anime design to the characters and world. So, games like Persona, Final Fantasy and Tales are all right up my alley. I understand that games like Dark Souls and Nioh are also technically under JRPGs but they're in another sub-category.

Nioh's art is fantastically inspired. I love it. Also, this boss is a beauty

I prefer the anime-ish games mostly because I enjoy anime and manga on a daily basis. I also believe that by using such aesthetics, one can do things that you can't necessarily do in other forms of media like weird emoticon faces, incredibly exaggerated but funny voice acting and mind-blowing action sequences. These all add to the advantages of the genre and cater to my specific interests. I love seeing the funny skits in Tales and I love the impossible movements done in Final Fantasy. While I can also appreciate the realism of Dark Souls, it's not necessarily what I would prefer.

I also enjoy the broader genre of action, adventure and RPG. I've had my fair share of tomb raiding, exploring uncharted territory, surviving an apocalypse and leading nations to victory. Admittedly, most games nowadays consist of an amalgamation of genres that almost always includes these but I'm just putting my likes out there.

Other more niche genres like dungeon-crawling for example are on a game-to-game basis for me. I don't really enjoy open ended games that's simply all about exploring but that really depends on the game itself. I enjoy Etrian Odyssey because I can give my own imagination to the characters I've chosen. I may be playing through the adventure by clicking a few buttons but in my head, it's an incredible experience filled with action, comedy and romance. On the other hand, I don't really prefer Dark Souls because the experience is very rooted in the game itself. It's not a game you can play and give life in your head. Couple that with its insane difficulty, vague plot and minimal characters, it's not exactly an experience I would consider worthwhile.

I'm quite ok with genres like fighting, racing, shooting, etc. Those are all obviously catered to specific people and while I don't really like those, I respect that others do. That being said, there is still some judgement reserved for specific situations. For example, people who constantly rave about football and how they love the sports genre annoy me. They can play the games so long as they don't praise it like it's actually a worthwhile video game experience. I mean, you can't compare kicking a ball to exploring the galaxy. Unless, you know, the extent of your interest only reaches the tip of you toes.

Another example can be seen from the platforming genre. They are usually, more often than not, a staple genre for indie games and are usually paired with the 8-bit aesthetics a lot of people seem to love. I am not one of those people. I do not like platforming and neither do I prefer that graphical pick. If there is no other choice for the graphics, then I can accept it but I still cannot enjoy platforming games. I honestly just don't see what's so fun. Yes, I'm bad at them but that doesn't mean I will like them if I got good. It's just a boring gameplay mechanic unless it's combined with, say, a puzzle and shooting element (Uncharted) or it boasts a bigger action aspect to it (Assassin's Creed).

I can get really specific and nitpick everything about every genre but I simply wanted to comment on this. What do you guys think? Do you have a genre you love or a genre you hate?